You are here

innovations

innovations

We believe in consistent innovation in all we do. We look for fresh and effective ways to do our work each day and build a culture of creativity across the organization.

One of the earliest in the paper industry to establish captive co-generation facilities

Co-generation was unheard of in our size of mills in the 1990’s. However, we realized the impending challenges that a poor electricity situation would pose for an industry that relied heavily on energy. We established a captive plant and stopped buying electricity from the government. This move helped save us from severe downturns that the industry faced.

Single centrally located control system to control the entire operation

We strongly advocate the power of instrumentation and control. We are aware that what cannot be measured, cannot be controlled. The same belief led us to install a plant wide Distributed Control System from Honeywell. In theory, we can control a large infrastructure from a small control room. Our operators are well trained to monitor and control through these modern devices and we are able to assure a consistent production and quality because of them.

The smallest unit in the world to have a conventional chemical recovery system

This was a huge decision for us. The cost of the plant was greater than any investment we had ever made. We realized that we were motivated by cleaning our effluent by recovering the chemicals that were disposed. The same could also be done by a cheaper methodology but that would mean that we would not recover chemicals that were used in our process and would also have to work on selling the chemicals recovered. The payback for the plant was long but we went ahead. As the universe would have it, the prices for caustic soda rose to over double and our payback became half the time ascertained earlier.

Early adopter of AC variable frequency on rewinders and paper machines

DC drives were the way to go till the 1990’s when one needed to alter motor speeds. We were convinced of the new AC technology when we bought a new rewinder in 2000. The rewinder's manufacturer was so nervous, he refused to take guarantee of the investment! But, it worked, and we switched our paper machines to AC variable frequency as well. Now, AC VF is the industry standard.

Use rice husk as fuel and agro residues as raw material

Our paper agent from Europe was astounded by our processes. He commented that he has seen many paper units use environmentally friendly raw materials; however, we were the first company he had come across that was entirely based on green energy too. An added benefit is that we source all our raw material and fuel from within a 200 km radius of the company.

One of the earliest paper mills to have a CDM (clean development mechanism) registered project

We became one of the first companies to register for CDM under the Kyoto protocol. Our power plant was recognized for its efforts in carbon footprint reduction and the Belgian Government entered a forward agreement with us to purchase all our carbon emmission reduction points till 2012. Regretfully, this wonderful mechanism did not receive sustained support and is tottering at present.

Developer of numerous paper grades

We hand over our paper machines to our product development team one day a month to play! The product development team continuously searches for new innovative products that the customer may need and works on the same. There are numerous products that have been developed and examples can be found in Solutionising section.

Yash Samriddhi Path has been the largest effort by the Skilling team to grade, skill and test the team for performance. The effort involves understanding and breaking down of each task and then checking gaps so that the right training can be ascertained and provided. The team develops standard operating procedures and detailed best practice manuals to ensure each task has been standardized. By doing so, we can analyse and understand the skill requirements of the team and help bridge gaps.

Offer training for all employees in financial literacy

We believe each action or inaction has financial implications and the same need to be understood by all. We also believe in complete transparency. Our Vittya Jagran project aims to get all people to learn to read income statements and understand the impact of costs in their own area. We share monthly income statements with team members and celebrate each of our performances.

Provider of onsite health clinic for team members, their families and surrounding villages

We consulted doctors when we thought of starting an employee health insurance. Our council advised that we could do much more for our employees and neighbors if we began a health clinic instead. Krishna Health Clinic was started and has a full time doctor and day care. These are simple examples of the innovations that we do on a daily basis. The company encourages ideas all around. We have employee Kaizen schemes, open house days, project teams, open door policy, newsletter and various other mediums to encourage ideas.